Beneath brilliant sunshine, the first Kilmeaden Sports to be held under National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA) rules attracted bumper crowds to Michael Power’s lands at Matthewstown Cross in early July, 1959.

Top competitors from all over the Southeast, Cork, Dublin and beyond travelled to take part in the packed 30-event programme, organised under the auspices of the local Muintir na Tíre guild.

B.P. O’Callaghan, son of Dr. Pat O’Callaghan, one of Ireland’s greatest-ever Olympians, entered and won the 16lb. shot, while Ronnie Roche (son of 1920s Erins Own and Waterford hurler and All-Ireland sprint champion Mick “Beckie” Roche) journeyed from Dundalk to clinch the 440-yards county championship title.

Ron was only just pipped in the 220-yard race by the new national title-holder, Carrick-on-Suir whippet Jack Lalor, while his brother Noel, also down from Louth, was barely beaten in the long jump.

Roche senior, who claimed county cups with all the Wares, was delighted to meet one man in particular at Kilmeaden, namely Willie Walsh, the Waterford GAA figurehead, after whom Walsh Park was named. The former hurler and referee was there to judge the long puck contest, which was won by the slight but hard-hitting half-back Jim Irish. (Then of Erins Own, Irish would return to his native Ferrybank after winning the National League with Waterford four years later.)

The line-up included children’s and adult races — Richard Walsh of Adamstown winning the under-10 boys 60-yard sprint for starters, while Knockaderry dynamo Tom Cheasty (who else) took the men’s confined 100-yard dash.

Four teams participated in one of the day’s highlights, the tug-o’-war, namely Ballyduff, Dunhill, Lissahane, and Cahireen. The locals, equipped with clodhoppers, took the first heat against Cahireen. The honours were even entering the last pull, but the Ballyduff team, straining every sinew, inched their heavier opponents over the mark to advance to the final. There they met Dunhill, who’d had an easier progression, but Ballyduff claimed the decider with the first two pulls.

A rare senior hurling match on Kilmeaden soil was played at Tommy Hayes’s farm, The Sweep, that evening between Erin’s Own and Ballygunner for a valuable set of trophies. The surface made ground-hurling difficult, though referee, John Barron of De La Salle (who would win an All-Ireland with Waterford alongside Cheasty & co. a few months later) ensured a “friendly” spirit remained to the fore.
As per tradition, the night was rounded off with a dance in the local hall; the Dawn Céilí Band supplying the music. They didn’t need Red Bull to pull in those days.